Wednesday, April 5, 2017

When Do You Have Enough Home Canned Food

That is a question I have been pondering this week. Because I enjoy the process and results of canning food in jars and because I seem to be constantly rearranging to make room on the shelves for more, I began to wonder when I would have enough.

If I were canning for just myself I would probably concede that I have enough now to last me a couple of years, even with using it regularly as I do. But there is more to consider. For a number of years I have taken into consideration that because my oldest son is the one who does grocery and Farmer's Market runs for me and because he has hauled countless cases of jars up the stairs to my apartment, often refusing to let me pay, that my canning efforts would feed him as well as myself. And now that his girlfriend has joined our family and they live in my building, the food in jars is, of course, split three ways. That gives me maybe a years worth of canned food.

None of us knows what the future holds. The only thing I know for sure is that I now live in a more volatile world than I have ever before in my lifetime seen. There are riots in the streets over any number of causes, political and racial being the two most prominent. We have those who are supposed to be representing we the people, fighting amongst themselves worse than the Hatfields and McCoys. We have the occasional terrorist who tries to kill as many of us as possible for the glory of Allah. We have countries in the Middle East whose theme song seems to be "Death to America." And lest we forget, there is that crazy North Korean dictator who threatens on almost a weekly basis to nuke us to smithereens or at the very least, nuke our electric grid out of existence. And we haven't even talked about the natural disasters that could occur.

So all of that being said, when do I have enough food in jars to stop canning. Do I stop when there is enough to feed three people for a year? Or do I think ahead to the possibility of other family members knocking on my door when their food supply is gone. I am not saying this will happen, but what if it did.

Someone once looked at my well stocked shelves and asked me, in all seriousness, what in the world I was going to do with all that food, should nothing bad ever happen. I said I didn't know. Maybe I would just..........eat it.

To answer my own question about when do you have enough food stored, I think that "never" is likely correct. Especially for those of us who live where we can not raise our own fruit and vegetables and livestock. Eventually, no matter what our best efforts are, the food will run out. But having a couple of years of food stocked, we have given ourselves time to plan and carry out the next move should it be necessary. It is good to have options.

Linda...I am careful about who knows I can and dehydrate and store food. I talk about it here in the hope that my experiences might help someone else, but locally I try to keep that information within my family. I likely do more than those who garden or raise livestock because those folks can renew their supplies every year. But not having that option I feel like I need to keep adding to the supply whenever I can.

I'm trying to figure out where to put another shelving unit in my apartment for this very same reason. I'm with you, I don't think anyone can be too prepared these.Like you, I don't talk about my 'pantry' with anyone locally. I'm careful to store most of my stash out of sight as well. I don't have much control over who accesses my apartment for maintenance tasks. I do watch the workers when they're here, however, so no one wonders around.I told you the story about the neighbor who came to borrow a cup of sugar. I poured her a cup from my 3-cup jar I keep close to the stove. She felt bad. I didn't correct her when she thought she had depleted my supply. Ha! I don't think you can be too careful around essentially strangers.It's raining again. Running a few quick errands and then in for the day. Cheers, SJ

SJ...My apartment will never be featured in one of those magazine articles about cute decorating ideas for small spaces. :)

My apartment has three rooms. The door is in the kitchen. Off one end of the kitchen is the bedroom and off the other end, the living room. My bedroom holds two large shelving units for my home canned foods plus a smaller one behind the door for my dehydrated foods. I keep the bedroom door closed when anyone but family are here. I recently added two more large units in my living room, one on either side of my sewing table. These hold some jars along with bags of flour, sugar and cases of bottle water, but mostly fabric and sewing/quilting supplies along with boxes of family photos and other misc. They can not be seen unless someone enters the living room. I am thinking of making 4 curtains to hang on the units to sort of hide their contents. Or maybe just buying 4 neutral colored cloth shower curtains to modify for that purpose.

My landlord is aware of my canning shelves but other than Duane and Lori, nobody in the building knows. I plan to keep it that way. That might sound mean to some, but I don't spend the time, effort and money to feed those who are too lazy or too oblivious to what is going on around us to do their own preparations. My family comes first.

I may have to move some of the stuff from the living room shelves. I really don't need to order groceries next week other than eggs and milk, so I am ordering a bunch of stuff to can. More about that later next week. :)

I'd have to say, for myself, the answer would be 'no'. We recently watched a pbs documentary called The Storm Century: The Blizzard of '49. You never know what kind of 'disaster' will happen. I figured that if I had too much and wasn't using it fast enough that I could always feed it to the critters.

And I'm with you, your family is your first priority. If the sloths don't care right now, that is their problem.

hobo...I don't wish to spread doom and gloom, but there are so many things that could easily put the average person in a world of hurt. Jobs are lost. Storms create havoc. Even with insurance, illness can put a person in peril. To refuse to put back food, water and supplies makes no sense to me at all.

I have actually had someone tell me that in the wake of a disaster like a hurricane or a blizzard, the government has to bring them food and water. That person will grow old and grey waiting for that to happen.

To those who tell me they will just come to my house, the answer is "No." Unless they have paid their share for the food and supplies and unless they have been here in my kitchen working alongside me, they have no right to expect anything but a slamming door. We grumpy grannies do not put up with those who expect free without work.

SJ...What a nice thing to say. I guess I do get my hackles up every once in awhile. Irresponsible people irritate me.Careful you don't just float away with all that rain! Suppose I had better not brag on our sunshine here. They say toward the weekend we should have thunderstorm or two. But today is lovely.

Never is the correct answer. I think most people plan for a three day event. That's what they hear on the news, be ready for a three day event. Then the government will rescue you. I find it hard to believe, after Katrina, that there are individuals who still believe that, but then , IQ levels run the full gamut.

The more you have, the longer you can last. If there's never a disaster, then huzzah. Just use the food yourself, as you suggest.

Harry...I think those in an urban environment are more apt to believe the government will come to the rescue. I was raised mostly in the country where we took care of ourselves and our own without expecting anyone to do that for us. Preserving and stockpiling food and supplies is the norm rather than the unusual. A three day supply? That's nothing. In my neck of the woods it takes longer than that to get dug out from a major blizzard.

I use what I store on a regular basis, so when deciding what to can next, it is usually to fill in whatever I am getting low on. And when I do my grocery order I never order just one of anything. It is always several so I have some extra to put in the pantry. It is not that tough. If I can build up food and supplies, anybody can. I just don't think most folks pay attention. If I were to mention Korea's little tin god or the fight in Congress over the Supreme Court nominee or the latest spying scandal, I believe I would be met with a blank stare. Many of today's elders seem to have forgotten the teachings of their parents and grandparents when it comes to self reliance and the current crop of snowflakes are too busy being social justice warriors and worrying about what to be offended by this week to do anything to take care of themselves.

I seem to be on a tear this week. Sorry.

My main problem is finding storage space within a three room apartment. Spent the better part of the day hauling cases of home canned soup and fruit from the bedroom shelves to the ones in the living room in order to make room for the hamburger and kielbasa, along with some other things, that I will be canning the end of next week when my grocery order comes. You are 100 % right. Never is the correct answer. :)

Good morning- so do you have a canning post for the kielbasa?You inspired me to start spring cleaning and reorganizing my own shelves. A project I tend to put off. But o, my gosh, turns out it is beyond time. Its now supposed to rain through Monday so I have lots of time to get this done. Cheers, SJ

Hi SJ...I am ordering the kielbasa with my grocery delivery for this coming Thursday. So there won't be a post on that until probably that weekend. I haven't canned kielbasa before and I want to make sure it turns out before posting. Have watched a number of videos from trusted canners and all say it is good.

I have been putting off seriously rearranging my shelves but I just can't procrastinate any longer. I only need eggs and milk from the store this time, so the rest of the order is for stuff to can. There will likely be several posts by the time I am done. In addition to the ordinary hamburger and peas, I plan to can grapes, split pea and ham soup, ham and bean soup with carrots, onions and celery, and a new recipe for corn relish that has shredded cabbage in it. You better start using that canner of yours. :)

Nothing wrong with staying ahead. My kids are learning this too. I bought a vacuum sealer, but have not used it yet. I keep getting side tracked. We bought a "new" to us used car. 06 Pontiac Montana. Which is already in the shop. Transmission issue, which is covered by warranty.

Rob...I know you believe in staying ahead. There are so many folks who get caught with their knickers down around their knees and they just don't know what to do. At least if we have a supply of food on hand, we can buy some time to decide what to do next without having to add to the burden by worrying where the next meal will come from. Good on you for teaching your kids the value of preparing.

About Me

Mom of four and Grandma of six, who writes about family events both past and present as well as anything else that happens to come to mind, shares new photos as well as old and who enjoys life in general.